One place I tend not to expect to come across references to “SJI” is on the Freakonomics blog — particularly when they are making a point about something on the public-radio show Marketplace.
But here’s the deal. Marketplace recently changed the background music it plays when summarizing the day’s stock-market figures: They switched to a different version of “We’re In The Money” (aka “The Gold Diggers Song”) a piece actually written during the Great Depression. Previously, the version they used was upbeat. Now it’s slow and bluesy, a change that apparently is meant to be more in-step with our economic times.
Freakonomics, setting aside its usual focus on, economics, money, and psychology, pivots to music critic mode and opines that the new rendition is “eerily reminiscent of ‘St. James Infirmary.’”
Decide for yourself if they have a point by listening a clip of the new version, performed by Joe Mattzie, here. You’ll also find clips of the prior version, as well as tunes the show plays on days when the market is down. (And: Here is the Marketplace piece explaining the switch, and that song’s history.)
As for what it might say about the economic zeitgeist if a business show is playing a tune “eerily reminiscent” of “SJI” while sharing news that the Dow is up … well, I’ll let you decide that for yourself, too.
A couple of years ago I did some research into the song "St. James Infirmary," wrote up what I found, emailed that essay to friends and posted it on my web site (as part of a series of "Letters From New Orleans," as I was living in that city at the time). Based on the feedback, I wrote a second version of the essay, and asked for more feedback. Based on that, I wrote a 
